Intuitive Tea

Way back a number of years ago when I first started getting serious about high-end teas, I bought every tool, gizmo, and gadget in order to prepare the tea “properly.” My collection included several kinds of measuring spoons, a gram scale for metric weights, a small postal scale for avoirdupois weights, and an instant-read water thermometer. I’d obsess over exact measurements of water and tea leaf and precise water temperatures, and set both digital and analogue timers to ensure that the tea steeped for just the perfect amount of time.

That, as they say, was then, and this is now. All of those measuring tools are somewhere in my tea room, mostly gathering dust.

Read the entire post at English Tea Store blog.

How cozy!

A stylish tea cozy adds character to your table while keeping your tea warm between cupsful. Whether made of fabric, yarn, or other materials, they pretty much fall into one of two categories: popover (also called dome) or wrap-around (also called bachelor). In practice, the cozy either covers the teapot completely and you have to remove it before pouring, or it wraps around with handle and spout sticking out so you can leave it on while you pour.

Within these two basic styles there’s a lot of creativi-tea.

Read the entire post at English Tea Store blog.

Spring Fever!

The floral harbingers of spring – daffodils, forsythia, and periwinkles – are in full bloom. Peach trees, plums, and beautiful Bradford pears (no pears, just flowers) scent the air with their fragrant blossoms.

Bird feeders welcome robins, cardinals, finches, and not a few greedy squirrels. Garden snakes emerge to warm themselves in the sun.

Read the entire post at English Tea Store blog.